Living Abroad in Mexico

Ken Luboff has written 3 books: "Live Well in Mexico: How to Relocate..." (1999), "Adapter Kit: Mexico: a traveler's tools for living like a local" (2002), and the present book. Some readers will probably be irked that, despite their different titles, all 3 books are much the same. True, information has been updated and/or re-arranged, but nowhere is there a message that the two subsequent books were based on "Live Well in Mexico". This said, Luboff writes well and presents his information (all obviously gained at first hand) with a great deal of insight and clarity. The books themselves are well illustrated and most expertly presented.

This is a delightful, easily read book that is packed with a lot of practical and useful information. Whether one intends to merely visit Mexico for more than a quick trip or plans to move there permanently, Living Abroad in Mexico covers all the bases from housing to communication to medical availability to food. The book presents a realistic idea of what life in Mexico is all about without being too rosy or to doom and gloom. The author did a tremendous job in conveying some of the cultural idiosyncracies and intangibles encountered when immersing oneself in a foreign environment. The one area of content that I can fault is that it does not cover Morelia, Oaxaca or Veracruz, which are large popular areas of Mexico with fast growing ex-pat communities. If these are a person's target area, this book will not provide as much detailed help as it does for areas such as San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta or Lake Chapala. The book could probably use a little updating as things change. A passport is now needed to cross the border for re-entry into the U.S. and there has been a Presidential change in Mexico and some changes in policy on that side of the border as well. There are also a couple of minor errors in the resources that can easily be corrected in an update. And finally, while this comment has nothing to do with the quality of what's inside the book, it does have to do with the overall quality of the printing/publishing...the middle 150 pages of the book fell out as they were not bound properly.

This is a great book which covers a brief history of Mexico, the culture, and various areas in which to expatriate to. My wife was probably glad when I finished reading the book because every few paragraphs I would stop and share with her some information I had just learned about Mexico. Since I'm only interested in a particular part of Mexico to move to I skipped quite a few pages which covered areas I'm not interested in. If you're undecided however on where to make your new home then this book covers all of the areas popular with foreigners. Be sure to pick up other books on moving to Mexico because they're not all the same and do not all cover the same information. Reading a wide range of books on moving to Mexico should hopefully cover the spots missed by others.

I've been researching, reading, and visiting Mexico for retirement living for over two years. I have no affiliation with the author. LIVING ABROAD IN MEXICO is the most useful book of a dozen I've purchased. It gets to the major questions and needs I've had about making the move. Other books may be great for touring, but this book is the most current and comprehensive if you are interested in the idea of moving to Mexico for months or years. It is a valuable guide and I appreciate the author's work. See you in Lake Chapala in a few weeks.

As a newsletter that's been discussing where to live in Mexico for 30+ years, we find this book to be one of the best ever in terms of lifestyle issues. Particularly good chapters on planning a fact finding trip, starting a business, buying property. The text is nicely broken up with case studies and inserts written by other gringos. The back has a very complete resource list (including the AIM Newsletter, but with the wrong address). Anyone considering a move to Mexico will know exactly what to expect day to day if they read this book. The best supplemental reading material will then be about specific places.